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Private Drivers

SINCE v0.2.0

Most drivers available with dbc are hosted on Columnar's public driver registry. However, some of the drivers you see when you run dbc search may be marked with a [private] label.

To install and use these drivers, you must:

  1. Log in to Columnar Console with dbc
  2. Start a trial license

Continue reading to learn how to log in and start a trial.

Logging In

To log into Columnar's private driver registry, run dbc auth login. This will automatically create an account for you the first time you log in.

You will see the following in your terminal and your default web browser will be opened:

$ dbc auth login
Opening https://auth.columnar.tech/activate?user_code=XXXX-XXXX in your default web browser...
⠏ Waiting for confirmation...

In your browser, you will see a Device Confirmation prompt and, once you click Confirm, you will be redirected to log in with the provider of your choice. Once you log in, you will be redirected to Columnar Console. Keep the tab open and continue on to the next step.

Starting a Trial

To install and use a private driver, you must start a trial and obtain a license. This is a separate step from logging in.

Licenses can be obtained from the Licenses page in Columnar Console by clicking Start free 14-day trial. Follow any instructions in the dialog that opens up and click Accept to create your license.

Downloading Your License

dbc will automatically download your license if you:

  1. Have an active license
  2. Run dbc install with a private driver

If you'd prefer to download the license manually, you can click Download License File and place the downloaded file in the appropriate location for your operating system:

  • Windows: %LocalAppData%/dbc/credentials
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Columnar/dbc/credentials
  • Linux: ~/.local/share/dbc/credentials

You may also use a custom location by setting the environment variable XDG_DATA_HOME to an absolute path of your choosing. If you do this, you must ensure you set the same value of XDG_DATA_HOME when loading drivers with the driver manager for the drivers to find your license.

Logging Out

To log out, run dbc auth logout.

By default, the logout command doesn't purge any driver licenses from your system and only removes your login credentials. If you wish remove the local copy of your license run:

$ dbc auth logout --purge

Note

Note that this command only removes the local copy of your license and does not cancel any active licenses you may have in your Columnar Console account.

Warning

ADBC drivers that require a license (i.e., private drivers) will stop working after you run this command. You can re-download your license with dbc auth login. See Downloading Your License.

API Keys

dbc also supports logging in to private driver registries via API key. This is primarily intended for use in Continuous Integration systems or any system where logging in with a web browser is not possible.

To create an API key, open a web browser to your API keys page.

Note

If you've already created an API key, you will see a Create API Key button instead.

If you haven't created any API keys before, you will see a Create Your First API Key button. After clicking it, enter a name, optionally choose an expiration, and click Create. On the following screen, you will see your new API key and instructions to copy it to your clipboard.

Note

API keys grant full access to your account so be sure to store it in a secure way.

Then to use your API key to log in, run:

$ dbc auth login --api-key "<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>"

Once you've run this successfully, dbc is now logged in and you can install private drivers as you would normally.